Wonderland - Descriptions, etc.

I have an idea for a story that would really be completely free form storytelling. I've created the setting and some NPCs to help guide things, but otherwise players would be able to kind of carve their own way. As a "GM" I'd really only be writing the world's reactions to characters if that makes sense. I also toyed with the idea of including dice rolls to give it even more randomness.

This Wonderland is a combination of versions including the books themselves, Disney, American McGee, and my own imagination. It's a mixed up and slightly sinister place where only the strong survive, though many go mad themselves. In this Wonderland, you may find many familiar characters: the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts; as well as strange new ones including pirates that roam but the skies and the Pool of Tears– said to be created by those hopelessly lost in Wonderland. Some, but not all, of the flora and fauna are sentient and all mushrooms are edible (technically), though the effects vary.

The world is almost as mad as the inhabitants. It is made up of forest and ocean as well as scattered villages, some of which may be set up like chessboards with strict, ever changing rules that make travel difficult. While the Queen of Hearts has her own, albeit often unclear territory, there are also the Kings and Queens of Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds. It's never clear if they are friends or enemies nor who is loyal to whom, but thankfully their reigns only tend to affect people in the immediate vicinity.

Players will have tumbled down a Rabbit Hole that filters from wherever they originate into Wonderland. From there, it is a completely free-form world as players can explore the land. Some may stop at nothing to escape the madness, others may embrace it and choose to survive in their new world. Depending on the character's personality, wit, strength, etc., the world may affect them in different ways. Like any other environment, Wonderland has its ways of molding those who dwell within it to its own plans and most succumb to at least some level of madness which may manifest in any number of "symptoms," from obsessions, to hallucinations, to simply bizarre behavior rendering them incapable of interaction.

I have already laid out some descriptions and information about what you can find in Wonderland as well as some rules and guidelines for character creation, but I want to know what you guys think about this idea first. Would you be interested in doing something like this?

An 'Alice in Wonderland', 'Neverending Story', kind of idea, eh?

I have actually toyed with idea myself from time to time. The difficult thing with such scenarios is that there really is a very fine line between 'well thought out' posts and 'manic ramblings'. Continuity and well established parameters are essential for such a story line.

I am curious to see what you have come up with in terms of rules and especially character creation.

I agree, and there will be some parameters. I guess I was leaning more along a Choose Your Own Adventure line. Like if someone makes a character who falls down the Rabbit Hole, wanders around and runs into the pirates, we can go from there and it can maybe an arc of them defeating or even joining them, etc.

Here are the rules, info, etc. I came up with so far (it's a little long):

Flora and fauna
Sentience varies greatly and with no real pattern in Wonderland. A rose may be sentient in one part of Wonderland, but just a simple flower in another. The forest especially possesses a wide variety of plants which can be used for many different things when in the hands of specialists. Some vague patterns that have emerged are:

-Most birds and rodents are sentient
-Most insects are not– save for caterpillars of at least 3 inches in length

Any creatures that are found in our world can be found in Wonderland as well as some bizarre additions including (but not limited to):
-Mome Raths– tiny little creatures consisting really of a pair of legs holding up a pair of eyes and a tuft of hair. They come in any color and live in the forests, often burying themselves under the earth and looking like little fuzzy plants. They usually travel in clusters and it is unclear if they are sentient or simply possess high intelligence. Whatever the case may be, they are benevolent and harmless and will usually try to help those in need such as pointing out the way out of a forest to a lost and wear traveler. It is, however, unwise to try to capture a mome rath as they are spiteful and not only will you receive no help from your captured mome rath, but you will be strangely hard pressed to obtain help from any others. In general they are relatively uncommon– difficult to find but not rare.
-Jabberwockies– Gigantic, winged serpentine, dragon-like monsters who will eat pretty much anything. They dwell mostly in caves high in the mountains though many swear to have sighted some along the coasts.

-Unicorns– Horses, usually white or silver, with large horns protruding from their heads.

-Griffins– Half-eagle, half-lion

-Hippogriffs– half-eagle, half-horse

-Dodos– They aren't extinct in Wonderland– in fact, some are productive (sort of) members of "society."

-Mushrooms: Mushrooms are found all over Wonderland but are most densely populated in the forests. Their effects vary greatly, sometimes two effects will each take half of a mushroom so that one side does one thing and the other will do another, not necessarily the opposite. The effect is dependent on how much of the mushroom you consume, but most are not permenant. There are 10 different kinds:
1. Grow
2. Shrink
3. Turn invisible (temporary)
4. Turn to liquid (temporary)
5. Ability to hear the forest (temporary)
6. Ability to see invisible creatures (temporary)
7. Floating
8. Glowing (temporary)
9. Turn a color (temporary)
10. Poison (poison can cause anything from symptoms of madness to death but are extremely rare)


Strangers and Others
-The Cheshire Cat– A plain-looking, grayish white cat with a creepy grin and the seeming ability to turn invisible and teleport anywhere it wants. It is intelligent but mischievous and utterly mad.

-The Caterpillar– a temperamental and stubborn caterpillar who may, if you can convince him and pull details out of him, give helpful information.

-Kings and Queens– The Kings and Queens in all suits are fickle and easy to offend. The Queen of Hearts is particularly notorious as she will look for any excuse to remove someone's head. They command the card armies and the kings and queens of the various chess armies report to them. Crossing into their territories is dangerous but some have managed to win their favor, though few have managed to maintain it. Usually the king has more power with the exception of the Kingdom of Hearts.

-The White Rabbit– a panicky and twitchy little fellow who, while seemingly obsessed with his pocket watch, never seems to be on his own schedule. Still, he has proven himself at least punctual enough to be the Royal Messenger and Announcer serving the Queen of Hearts directly.

-Chess– Chess pieces are generally about half the size of an average person. Different colors can never coexist peacefully and as a result, there is constant battling among chess pieces. They have all claimed loyalty to one of the four Kingdoms and will act in their favor, sometimes at least attempting to carry out their rulers' supposed expectations. In general, they are incoherently mad and pose little threat to others but their favor can be won, although it will be a fragile relationship due to their states of mind. Bishops are a possible exception in that they are often coherent enough to carry out dangerous deeds. Queens are usually in charge, Knights usually spend more time falling off of their horses than actually fighting, Pawns are often overexcited but easily defeated, and Rooks are rather indifferent and least likely to attack. They will abide by their own rules, whether it is in their favor or not. The trouble comes when they begin changing their rules.

-Pirates– Pirates are found in 2 places: Sea and Air
-Air Pirates fly around in airships or hot air balloons powered by little fire-breathing creatures causing various forms of havoc in their own ways.
-Sea Pirates– found in the various oceans, they sail around on basic pirate ships of various size and successful buoyance. Some incoherently mad ones may be found in ponds. The Pool of Tears is the most common place to find them.

-Specialists– Specialists are those rare inhabitants who managed to develop a particular talent. They can range from professions as typical as blacksmiths to as outlandish as professional hole diggers. There are a great many storytellers but most of them (e.g. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum) are simply talkative creatures who have gone insane. Among the most rare and coveted are Masters of Tea. These people are similar to what alchemists would have been in our world as they can make a potion out of any of the tea leaves found in the forests of Wonderland. As expected, they are usually found living as hermits in the forests and the higher their expertise, the wider the range of potions they can make, given the ingredients.

Items:
Wonderland's society is similar to that of the 18th - 19th century English countryside in terms of items found in the world. Various weapons can be found such as knives, swords, and the spears of card guards found in the kingdoms. Throwing weapons come in various forms from stars, to cards, to tops. Some have managed to train animals, but this takes far more skill as creatures of Wonderland are all susceptible to its nonsense as anyone else and can be erratic and unpredictable in their behavior.

Mirrors are especially troublesome as one can fall through them and end up in a backwards version of the already crazy world. Invisible doorways can also be found in the forest through trees or clearings or under the water that will transport people to other parts of Wonderland. Going back through them may not necessarily lead you to where you started from.

Rules and Character Creation:
- None of the named strangers (Cheshire Cat, Caterpillar, Queen of Hearts, White Rabbit) can be played without permission. Kings and Queens of other suits can be submitted as characters.

- All characters are at risk of madness in Wonderland, but it is up to the player how susceptible they are. Madness is on a scale of 1-50, 1 being negligibly affected and 50 being completely incoherent. A character is considered "Mad" when their madness level reaches 15 or higher. Madness can be increased or decreased based on a character's experiences in Wonderland and how well they can keep their wits about them in stressful situations.

To give an idea of madness levels and their effects:
The Cheshire Cat would have a madness level of 15-20
The Queen of Hearts would have a madness level of 20-30
The Mad Hatter would be about 30
The Dormouse would be about 50. You can give a number for your character's madness or a range if it is easier. Ranges should not exceed 10 and can and probably will change over the course of playing (in one direction or another).

- All characters must be original. No submitting player characters from Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, or any other manifestation. NPCs are okay, meaning if you have a character and would also like to introduce, say, the March Hare into the story, that's fine too. Just submit a description of how you picture him so others can write him too.

- Other than that, they can be anybody from anywhere as Rabbit Holes are found all over the world.

Here's an example of a character I made in case this takes off (bonus points if you get both references in his name ^_- )


Name: Peter Peván
Age: 20
Madness: 5 (obsessed with hot liquids)

Appearance: (see picture) Peter dresses practically for the temperate climate of Wonderland's forests. He has a small variety of dark, long-sleeved shirts and earth-colored pants. He usually wears brightly colored socks because he feels feet are underappreciated and deserve the attention. He also wears a small golden hoop earring in his left earlobe.

Personality: Peter is intelligent and awkward but eager to accept a willing friend. While shy and distrusting at first, he becomes warm and welcoming once someone has shown themselves to be genuinely interested in his company. He is not especially talkative, often it's hard to get answers out of him, but he is amiable and willing to share his daydreams and interests. Although his habits of drifting and dreaming have been weighed by his time in Wonderland, he is still a child at heart and can come off as rather innocent and even peaceful until he is backed into a corner. Peter has learned to survive in Wonderland and can be a brutal fighter when need be.

Despite his intelligence and strong sense of self, Peter has succumbed to the effects of Wonderland and in his study of tea leaves has become obsessed with all hot liquids. His relationship with them is almost love-hate as he feels compelled to touch and explore it despite the injuries they can cause (and he has a few tell-tale burns to show for it). He also has a hard time giving up a potion he has made simply because of his lingering fascination with it. It take him over an hour to drink a cup of tea and it can become difficult steer him away from discussing it until he has finished it. While not mad by any stretch, he has become quite a bit off and may not immediately make sense when he speaks.

Skills:
Fighting: While not formally trained, Peter has acquired through his own studies skills in fighting both with his bare hands and with bladed weapons.

Tea Master: Peter is a highly skilled maker of potions and an expert in the various forest plants, particularly their properties and potential abilities, specializing in tea leaves in particular.

History: Peter as born into a middle class family in the countryside outside of Hackney, London. As a child, he was beloved by most people who met him. He was happy, active, and imaginative, constantly playing, some said from the moment he woke up to the moment he fell asleep. Unfortunately, as Peter grew, his childlike tendencies didn't change and the became less and less appealing. Even when his peers were beginning to talk about girls and experimenting with their freedom, Peter preferred to run through fields, drifting into whatever adventures his imagination had for him.

By the time he was fourteen, his parents had begun to get fed up with his behavior. They demanded he put down his books and leave his fairytales and daydreams behind. While his studies never suffered, the neighbors, teachers, psychologists, etc. all seemed to decide that for a teenage boy to pretend to be a pirate and play with much younger children was not acceptable behavior. While the children around adored him, neither their parents or Peter's peers shared their feelings. As a result of his isolation from peers and growing rift between him and his parents, Peter began sneaking off, sometimes in the middle of the night, other times cutting school, to indulge in his day dreams and drift as far away as he could from the imprisoning reality that his world had become.

It was on one of these adventures in the middle of the night that Peter followed some strange tracks leading into what appeared to be a rather large rabbit hole in a field by the edge of a grove of trees. Curious, Peter crawled into the hole and found himself falling through a very strange sort of corridor. The speed at which he fell seemed to go from a gentle descent to terminal velocity and back with no particular pattern. The world seemed to twist and warp around him as Peter descended, all the while following the strange path until he was dumped out onto an earthen floor, landing unhurt in a crumpled heap.

Peter quickly found that he had fallen into a strange world known as Wonderland. Nothing seemed to make sense. Every time he thought he found some pattern of things, something would change as though Wonderland itself wanted to keep him on his toes. Friends became enemies, enemies became friends, strangers and terrifying creatures tried to kill him while others simply pestered him. Eventually, Peter fled into the forest where he studied his surroundings intensely, wallowing in this smaller, slightly more consistent part of Wonderland. Although the place terrified him at first, his search for a way back to his home in England was often sidetracked by his fascination with the magical world of nonsense he'd stumbled upon. Eventually his search tapered off in favor of adapting to Wonderland after his simple realization hat neither place was at all pleasant but at least in Wonderland he wouldn't have to "grow up."

I suspect "Peter" is for Peter Pan--and his never-ending childhood. Pevan, I'm afraid I do not know, though it sounds dreadfully familiar!

As for the story, you can count me in. I agree with Tiphereth that sometimes in such a world a rambling madness may begin to reign, but I think the players (er, writers?) could keep it under control, eh?

Did you have any ideas as far as specific plots? Do you picture the characters getting politically involved in the disputes, or more running from them? Just curious if you had any opinions there.

You obviously have put a lot of thought into this, I'm interested to see what kind of story develops!

Sounds interesting Kasia. A cross between Peter Pan and Alice In Wonderland? I paint with a broad brush in my assumption.

So my take on this world is that our characters are going to originate in a world familiar to us... our world... and I would imagine that we could arrive from different times in history. Is this accurate?

This is important since it provides us with something to compare the topsy turvy world of 'Wonderland' to. Now, the BIG question is, 'Are all of our characters falling down the rabbit hole at the same time, or can some have been in 'Wonderland' for some time and thus have experience with their surroundings?'

Quite often it is those running, experienced characters that tend to define the world more and those running the newcomers must often take backseats. It is the natural way of things, 'story-wise', but I've noticed that on the equal plain of collaborative writing this can create an imbalance.

Sorry to be a curmudgeon, but these are just some little hiccups that I foresee.

I really like the concept, its just that it, just like a Sci-Fi story, it needs more parameters than a normal story. The attractive thing about it is all the avenues one can take, but those infinite amount of paths can just as quickly send all the writers off in their own directions vying for continuity.

This is not to say we are not responsible, on the contrary, we are very creative and I fear that our own imaginations may run a muck in this world which is why I am one for a little more of a structure to keep us in line. I already have my own interpretation of 'Wonderland' but I feel that it may contradict the perception of others.

To answer your questions, Tiph:

Quote :

So my take on this world is that our characters are going to originate in a world familiar to us... our world... and I would imagine that we could arrive from different times in history. Is this accurate?

Sorry, I wasn't really clear on that. I pictured people coming from a set time, either today or we could decide on a decade. But they could come from any country.

Quote :

'Are all of our characters falling down the rabbit hole at the same time, or can some have been in 'Wonderland' for some time and thus have experience with their surroundings?'

Honestly, I had thought about that but hadn't really decided. I at first imaged people falling down all at once, but then figured I'd refrain from specifying in case someone wanted to make someone who had lived in the world for a while. It may be easier though to just have it start with everyone kinda tumbling in at once. Their anchor with experience would be Peter (the second reference in his name, BTW, was Peter Pevansie from Chronicles of Narnia ).

I can see what you mean about people kind of flying off in different directions... I guess I was being a little selfish and figured I could just keep all the storylines going. Maybe we could have this group that falls down into Wonderland form some cohesion and that will put pressure on characters not to veer too far. Or if one does, maybe that could result in a story arc or even a breakaway thread of sorts, like if someone decides, much to the chagrin of the rest of the group, that they want to overthrow the Kingdom of Clubs, then there could be an arc trying to stop that person, save them, etc. If that doesn't work, then maybe we have a new Queen of Clubs and there can be a Kingdom of Clubs thread or something from there... ok now I'm just rambling. I guess I still sort of had the wait-and-see method going, but I can see how that can get disorganized too... What do you think?

That all sounds good.

My suggestion is that you begin this story as 'Directed'. This means you call the shots and control the settings, but you can set boundaries if you would like to give writers a little more freedom. The story does not have to remain directed, in fact a I sense that your ultimate goal would be to have it completely free form. In my opinion it helps to set strict parameters in the beginning, then as participants become familiar the world under your guidance, the training wheels can eventually come off and people will be able to go on their own.

That sounds good... I will get something started